In this year's Christmas message Queen Elizabeth was in a solemn mood and reflected on the evel of the September 11 terrorist outrages.

Delivering her 50th Christmas broadcast, which was cast on television, radio and Internet broadcast, she acknowledged that the past year had brought trials and disasters for many people.

The UK had been hit by floods as well as the foot-and-mouth epidemic. "But whilst many of these events were of natural origin, it was the human conflicts and the wanton acts of crime and terror against fellow human beings which have so appalled us all," she said.

"The terrorist outrages in the US last September brought home to us the pain and grief of ordinary people the world over who find themselves innocently caught up in such evil."

There was no direct reference to the Queen's 2002 Golden Jubilee, only a mention that this year's Christmas message was her 50th.

Instead the Queen concentrated on the importance of community and faith, be it Christian or Muslim, in the aftermath of September 11. "I believe that strong and open communities matter both in good times as well as bad," she said.

Communities gave an important sense of belonging, a compelling need in everyone. "A sense of belonging to a group, which has in common the same desire for a fair and ordered society, helps to overcome differences and misunderstanding by reducing prejudice, ignorance and fear," she said.

"We all have something to learn from one and another, whatever our faith, be it Christian or Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or Sikh, whatever our background, whether we be young or old, from town or countryside."